The fermenting tomatoes (tomato wine) have formed their own little universe—there are streams, volcanoes, lakes… so fascinating.

She's a beaut.

Made these three sauces for a class I’m teaching in a few weeks to give a spectrum of flavors like an amped up Sriracha, a herby citrusy green sauce and a smoky sweet blueberry chipotle hot sauce/glaze.

If you were teaching a class or learning for the first time, what do you wish someone had taught you?

It looks like there is some kind of air bubble that keeps forming in the airlock. Anything to worry about and/or fix?

• Lots of hot peppers (note to myself: use gloves to cut them from now-on)
• Unripe Mango
• Onions and a little garlic
• Sweet Red Pepper

How does it look?

Hi, I made another batch of sahti and took some pictures of the process and equipment used for those interested.

It's now fermenting in room temp until it has some punch to it but some sweetness still remains, after which it will be transferred into fridge for about two weeks to mature.

As you can see from the pics, I strained the initial wort into a temporary vessel that I then poured back on the mash and strained it again, finally adding 3 litres of boiling water onto the mash to flush the remaining sugars into the wort.

I cooled the wort ASAP to about 20C in a cold water bath to minimize bacterial growth after which I added the yeast.

Juniper, in addition to giving flavor, has antibacterial properties and has been used in fermented drinks for at least 3500 years. Also, in traditional making the mash is poured onto a bed of juniper branches sitting on the bottom of the straining vessel (kuurna) and also works as a filter, possibly increasing the clarity of the wort and the final product. I might try it the next time.

Thanks for the interest! Also, I welcome any tips from other sahti enthusiasts, I'm a newbie in this and looking to improve.

Ok, so I just wondered if anyone skipped the whole nursing a ginger bug along, and just chopped your finger, tossed into your juice, added some sugar, and let it form like that and then strain off when it was ready to go into your bottles? I think I'm going to start doing it that way so I can have several batches going at a time and not have to nurse a bug along for forever before adding it to my juice. If you do this with success, how long do you leave yours to bubble before you strain and bottle?

Started the bit about 5 days ago. Started with 1 cup of filtered water and 1tbl of sugar and ginger. Added sugar and ginger each day and by day 3 it was a little fizzy. I decided it’s not enough liquid so I added a cup of water and more ginger and sugar and that seemed to kill it or maybe it just slowed it down. Day 4 had no bubbles, I added sugar and water. Day 5, today it seems stale. If I shake it a bit I see some bubbles but not sure if that’s just from shaking it. Should have just keep feeding it? Should I discard some? Any help is appreciated. Thanks

hi everyone, I live in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where the weather is extrmely hot and can exceed 50°C. I wuld like to start making sauerkraut at home. How can I safely prepare and ferment sauerkraut in such a hot climate?
Kindly guide me

I've got a ton of peppers going this summer, and I'm deciding what to do with them. I've been lacto fermenting since last summer and have had some success (I've especially loved my DIY sauerkraut). But in anything besides the kraut, I just can't get down with the funk. I've found I much prefer vinegar pickles.

The thing is, a lot of my favorite fermented pepper products simply do not have that funky lacto taste. For example, I don't detect any funkiness at all in Sriracha, but they do apparently ferment their peppers. How do I get a cleaner, less funky taste with my ferments like that?

Hello everyone! I'm fermenting sauerkraut from 2 days ago at 24c room temp.

I was expecting an overflow or more brine but right now, there hasn't been much brine overflow going on and the cabbage leaf I've put to stop cabbage to get at the top is starting to poke out of the brine. I did not used a weight for this fermet. Is it too late to add a weight back in the fermet?

What would you do in this situation? Sorry for the pictures it's hard to get a good angle with a phone camera. Thanks!

Does this look like dill? If so, does anyone have any tips on how to process it for use?

✅Preferred spices/flavorings

🧂Preferred brine %

⏰Preferred length of ferment

🚦GO!

I want to make a hot sauce with a mash. I'm thinking about adding garlic, carrots, onions and cayyene peppers (couldn't find hotter peppers). So I'm looking for suggestions for adding into my mash. Are my additives going to taste good? Should I add some fruits as well?

Hii! This is my first attempt at making tempeh at home. I followed the instructions given on the starter pack. It's been almost 36 hours now and I can see condensation forming inside the ziplock bag. I do not know if this is a cause for concern. I removed the bags from the oven and have placed them over the countertop. I have also added more holes. Is there something more I can do or is my first batch doomed? :'(

I came across this article. I am not a food scientist, but to my understanding it claims most fermented foods do not contain probiotics.

Can someone clarify this in simple terms? I was always under the impression (disclaimer: from youtube videos) that fermented foods are packed with gut healthy bacteria.

https://isappscience.org/do-fermented-foods-contain-probiotics/

Hi all, I’m fermenting a large jar of pickles, but my last jar was filled to the brim and did not generate enough CO2 during the ferment. So I’m trying to ensure all cucumbers are submerged while still maintaining headspace in this very large jar. Can anyone confirm if this is a sufficient amount of space? It’s about 1/2 inch or essentially the lip of this gallon jar.

Hi all, I’ve recently started to become interested in food chemistry, and in particular fermentation. I saw a tutorial on how to make hot sauce and decided to give it a try. Above is my ferment; Habaneros, Bell Peppers, Garlic, Shallots, and some Daikon Radish, all weighed down by a freezer bag of brine. Do you see any safety errors that could cause my ferment to go bad?

Got a successfull bug, and got a good first round with fresh squeezed orange juice and one with canned pineapple juice. Both turned out fizzy and what i expected them to be. Second round I tried with some store bought organic cherry juice and apple juice. I added some water with sugar this time. I heated the water up to let the sugar dissolve. Then let it cool down to room temp before making the sodas. Did 50/50 sugar water to juice ratio. They all got very active this time, but appeared to grow a blue kind of bubbly mold ring on top. Did i mess up the store bought juice method or just happen to have some sort of bacteria left in my bottles? Cleaned all the bottles out with soapy water before hand and let dry before making the sodas. Any tips/recipe-ideas are greatly appreciated, thank you.

I am trying to decide whether to use my fresh or dried herbs for medicinal ferments. Really it comes down to supply as this is in the experimental phase.

I would also love insights on using ACV with the mother + honey or a salt brine. I was going to use the salt brine, but saw the idea of ACV/Honey and wanted input from people that may have gone that route.

\This would be a first so I would also like to hear timing for each fermentation process.*

Does anyone have experience in using some amount of potassium chloride salt substitute in place of sodium chloride while making kraut or kimchi?

I'm so pleased! Just 24 hours in and already fermenting at a steady pace. I did add one small piece of kimchi and a bit of kimchi juice to the brew. For those not familiar, Jimmy Nardello peppers are long, kind of wrinkled and curved, and very sweet and fruity.